Ethnic Cleansing Shock in Azerbaijan

More than 100,000 people have fled the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan after an invasion of  Azerbaijan troops.  That number represents almost the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which was last estimated to be 120,000.  The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) stated  that many of those fleeing "are hungry, exhausted and need immediate assistance".  Artak Beglaryan, an Armenian former separatist official, said that "the last groups" of Nagorno-Karabakh residents were on their way to Armenia yesterday.  "At most a few hundred persons remain, most of whom are officials, emergency services employees, volunteers, some persons with special needs," he wrote on social media.

At least 200 ethnic Armenians and dozens of Azerbaijani soldiers were killed as Azerbaijan's army swept in to seize control of the region. Azerbaijan has said it wants to reintegrate the area and treat its residents as equals, but an Armenian spokesman said this was just a "lie".  Nagorno-Karabakh - recognized as part of Azerbaijan - had been run by ethnic Armenians for three decades.

 As part of a ceasefire deal to allow residents free passage out of the territory, separatists have agreed to surrender their weapons. The leader of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh has said it will cease to exist in the new year.  Samvel Shahramanyan announced that he had signed an order dissolving all state institutions effective January 1, 2024. Shahramanyan said the decision to dissolve the state was "based on the priority of ensuring the physical security and vital interests of the people", referencing Azerbaijan's agreement that "free, voluntary and unhindered travel is ensured to residents".   He encouraged people from Nagorno-Karabakh, including those currently living outside it, to "familiarize themselves with the conditions of reintegration" into Azerbaijan.

The UN says it is sending a mission to Nagorno-Karabakh to assess the humanitarian situation, after Azerbaijan said it would allow such a visit to take place.  Armenia's ambassador-at-large, Edmon Marukyan, stressed that it was important that UN officials saw for themselves what ethnic Armenians had been subjected to.  "It's good they will be there and they will become witnesses that these people were ethnically cleansed from their ancestral homeland, from their homes where their parents, where their ancestors were living and these people were totally cleansed from this territory," he told the BBC.